I assume because they needed to grab everyone they could in one shot, since they are outside of the U.S., and it can turn out that one or more of them are in fact guilty. Otherwise, they can just disappear and you'll never get the chance again.
This actually makes sense if you consider that these laws are aimed at the mafia, and that there is no penalty to the U.S. government for being wrong.
EDIT: I find it interesting how everyone always jumps to the "OMG EVIL" conclusion with these things. From what I've seen, American law enforcement can be overzealous, heavy-handed, and cause a lot of collateral damage, but they are rarely "evil."
The difference between wrongful accusation and defamation of character is often a fine line, let alone damages due to lost revenues and customers by being in jail. I imagine that their clients are not to impressed when the person they contracted is in prison.
I would hope that they would be damn sure when taking such drastic measures. This designer is not even a US citizen nor does he live or reside in the US. Is the onus really on a designer to vet all customers for the legality of every country on earth?
Without knowing details, it sure does seem strange to arrest the designer.
That's pretty scary. I used to work for a company that had similarities of MegaUpload. It was all above board; I was paid a salary, didn't have any ownership in the company, and we obeyed the law. To think I could have been arrested for what I saw as a day-job is not cool.
This actually makes sense if you consider that these laws are aimed at the mafia, and that there is no penalty to the U.S. government for being wrong.
EDIT: I find it interesting how everyone always jumps to the "OMG EVIL" conclusion with these things. From what I've seen, American law enforcement can be overzealous, heavy-handed, and cause a lot of collateral damage, but they are rarely "evil."
"wrong" =/= "evil"